Stair-rod



W. A. BURNS.

STAIR ROD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20. 1920.

1,397,618. Patentd Nov. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET W. A. BURNS.

STAIR ROD.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, I920.

1 ,397 ,6 1 8. Patented Nov. 22, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM ALBERT BURNS, O15 LONDON, ENGLAND.

srnrazaon.

Application filed May 20,

T 0 all whom it may concern.

' Be it known that I, W ILLIAM ALBERT BURNS, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and resident of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stair-Rods, of which the following is a specification.

I This invention relates to stair rods of the kind in'which the ends are adapted to pass into the eyes of fasteners secured in the angle of the stair tread, and has for its main object to provide a readily removable stair rod that will hold the stair covering or carpet closer in the angle of the stair tread than is possible with the ordinary kind of stair rod.

This invention comprises a stair rod having extending portions at its ends of smaller diameter than the stair coveringengaging portion, and which are "adapted to fit in the eyes of the rod fastenings. One at least of these extending end portions being telescopic and provided'with a spring so arranged as to render such extending portion capable of being displaced longitudinally in such a manner as to enable the main portion of the .rod to be placed in position over the stair covering and then allow the'eye en aging portion to be forced by its spring into the eye of its fastening. V g

The main portion of the rod may be in the form of a tube or of a solid rod having axial holes in its ends adapted to receive the extending end portions one of which may be fixed and the other spring-controlled so that it can partake of a certain amount of axial movement in the end of the rod.

The spring-controlled end may be so arranged that its spring will tend to force the said end outward, in this construction the arrangement is such that the extending end can be pressed into the end of the rod so as to allow of that end passing the eye fastening laterally after the other end of the rod has been inserted in its eye in the ordinary way, when the spring controlled end will automatically force its way into the eye of its fastening as soon as the rod is pressed in sufficiently far as to be in axial alinement with the eyes of the fasteners.

In anotherconstruction of the invention the spring is arranged to pull the extending end into the end of the rod, the inner portion or shank of the said end being of a reduced section, so that it can be forced laterally through an opening in the eye of- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented N ov.

1920. Serial No. 382,954.

the fastener provided for the purpose. In this case the other end of the rod is placed in its fastening in the ordinary way, and then by pulling the. spring-controlled end outward the shank portion can be pressed laterally through the said opening into the eye of the fastener and when released the end portion will be forced by its spring into the eye of its fastener. Various examples of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein Figures 1 and 2 are sectional'and outside views respectively of the construction in which the spring of the extending end tends to force it outward.

Figs. 3 and 4: are corresponding views of the construction in which the spring of the extending end tends to force it inward.

Fig. 5 is a side view of an eye fastener for the construction of rod shown in Figs. 8 and 4.

Fig. 6 is an application of the invention enabling end knobs to be used of a size that would notpass through the eye of the fastener.

Figs. 7 and 8 are alternative constructions of an example shown'in Figs. 1 and S respectively. V

In these drawings a is the stair cover en gaging or rod portion proper, b and?) the eyexfa'steners, c and (Z the extending ends and e the spring.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the spring-controlled end (Z has a hollow inner end in which the spring 6 is located. 7 is a pin passing diametrically through the tubular rod 0, and through slots (Z formed in (Z, and is riveted at its endsin the sides of a. This spring a presses at its inner end against this pin 7 and at its outer end against the end of the opening in (Z. (Z is formed with a conical shouldered portion (Z adapted to engage the inner face of the interned flange portion a formed on the end of the tubular rod (4.

The outer ends of the extending end por- I recess formed in the gland or disk a secured in the end of the rod (Z.

The eye fastener 5 hown in Fig. 5 is provided with an opening 6 to allow of the passage laterally of the shank d of the end piece shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and of the rod 03* in Fig. 8, and the neck portion a? in Fi 7.

In Fig. 6 the rod is provided with larger knobs d than would pass through the eye of the fastener, in this case each eye fastener is provided with an opening'as shown at 6* in Fig. 5, and a reduced shank portion (Z is formed under the knob to enable the fixed end portion of the rod being inserted in the eye of its fastener.

In Fig. 7 the telescopic knob end (Z is formed with a reduced portion d adapted to pass through a lateral opening in the eye of the fastener when fixing the rod in the fasteners. This tube rod end 01 is slidably mounted on a central rod d adapted to be secured at its inner end by screwing into a disk d sweated or otherwise secured in the tubular stair rod a. The spring 6 is arranged on the rod (i so that oneend will bear against the disk cl" and the other against the end of the hole formed in d.

i In Fig. 8, the knob d i slidably mounted on a central rod d*, the end of this rod being adapted'to besecured by screwing into a disk (Z fixed in the end of the rod a. The spring a is in this case arranged in the knob d on the rod 65*, hearing at one end under a head d 'formed on the outer end of the rod d and at the other end against the end of a hole formed in the knob cl. It will be readily understood that when the knob 03 is pulled against the spring 6 it will slide along the rod 6Z and leave an exposed portion adapted for use in the same manner as d in Fig. 3.

. In each of the above examples of the inin the extended position, said telescoping portion being adapted to be forced into the hole in the stem against its spring, when engaging the rod with fastening devices secured on the stairs, and subsequently released so that the spring forces the reduced portions of the rod into engagement with the fastening devices. a

2. A stair rod comprising a stem, afixed reduced portion extending from one end of said stem, and axial hole in the other end of said stem, a reduced portion having a tubular. shank telescopically mounted within said axial hole, an abutment adjacent the inner end of said hole, a spring disposed within the tubular shank of said telescoping reduced portion, one end of which bears against said abutment and the other end against the inner interior end of the said shank, said spring operating to normally maintain said telescoping portion in the extended position and said reduced portions being adapted to engage in eye-fastening devices secured to the stairs; 1 In witnesswhereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM ALBERT BURNS. 

